The Rushdie factor
By Farhan Bokhari, Special to Gulf News
Published: June 24, 2007, 00:24


As Britain faced mounting calls from Muslims in the past week to reverse its ill-advised decision to award a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie, Pakistan was left in a bind.

The government openly criticised the UK for first awarding the honour to Rushdie and subsequently refusing to back away from that move.

But there was reason for widespread alarm among diplomats when Ejaz ul Haq, the minister for religious affairs, was seen endorsing calls for suicide attacks in retaliation. A similar endorsement then came from the speaker of the provincial parliament in Punjab, which is not only Pakistan's largest and most populous state but also the country's political backbone.

It is clear that Pakistanis have been stung once again by what is widely known as the Rushdie factor. The publication of Rushdie's novel, The Satanic Verses, was enough of a provocation which in 1989 led to protests in different countries, not to mention the fatwa issued by the late Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, proclaiming the death sentence on the author.

In the latest round, Britain has defended the move by arguing that Rushdie was not the only Muslim to receive the honour, pointing towards other Muslim recipients in different areas. The reaction, however, makes it clear that Britain has little room to defend itself.

But there's an equally profound challenge for Muslim countries, including Pakistan, which are once again faced with calls from within for tough reaction. In Pakistan, a leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the coalition of Islamic political parties, even went so far as to call for an end to diplomatic relations with Britain.

Managing the fallout from this latest controversy will not be easy. Even if governments try to move beyond the immediate series of condemnations, popular opinion will not forget yet another episode in this very sorry saga.

There can be no defence for blasphemous remarks, in any religion, including Islam. Not too long ago, the release of the book The Da Vinci Code unleashed a furious response from some of the world's most devout Christians, who saw a malicious intent behind the movie which essentially traced the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Passionate response

In his defence, Haq, the Pakistani religious affairs minister, argues that he was indeed the one who led the charge to remove copies of the Da Vinci Code from shelves in stores across the country. He believes his passionate response to Rushdie's knighthood should be taken in a wider context of respect for all religions, rather than Islam alone.

For a country like Pakistan, the course of future action must be built upon three vital pillars.

First, there must be the initiation of a national movement to publicise the values of Islam in ways that have not been tried before.

The creation of a national knowledge network, built through an extensive database and operating through newly created libraries, must be central to this effort.

The end result of such a movement must be to revitalise the tradition of knowledge, which was once central to the Muslim spirit but has been lost with the passage of time.

Second, there has to be a new round of public discussions aimed at seeking a revitalisation of the Islamic spirit. Unlike the times when Muslims learnt to engage among themselves and with followers of other religions, today's world has seen a widening gap between Muslims and others.

The loss of the tradition of discussion and debate has only weakened the ability of Muslims to become true followers of their best traditions as espoused by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Threatening to react violently, with the use of suicide attacks, hardly helps to steer the course in ways that are best suited to the interests of Muslims.

Finally, Muslim countries cannot ignore what Muslims generally see as attacks on their religion. One way to respond to such situations may well be through the establishment of new bridges of cooperation between Islamic countries and communities of Muslims in the Western world.

The establishment of pressure groups and lobbies to support Islamic causes may then be the way to promote messages in favour of broader Muslim opinion.

The end objective must be to avoid the use or threat of violence as Muslims then are in danger of being labelled, once again, militants or terrorists. Becoming organised to support the interests of Islam is simply unavoidable in today's world.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.